BALTIMORE — Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver is auctioning off 47 of his treasured keepsakes, including his 1966 World Series ring and jerseys received as gifts from Cal Ripken Jr. and Eddie Murray.

The former Baltimore Orioles skipper will earn tens of thousands of dollars from the sale, but Weaver says he doesn’t need the money and isn’t keeping any of it.

“I have four children. They have children, and their children have children,” said Weaver, who turns 81 in August. “I don’t know how to divide whatever memorabilia there is among them.”

It’s far simpler to split a pile of cash, so Weaver decided to sell the items and distribute the proceeds equally among the family.

“To me, it seems like the logical thing to do. I hate to depart with some of the things I’ve accumulated, but I think that’s the easiest thing for me to do before I pass,” Weaver said. “I don’t know what would happen then. The auction is the best way for me to take care of everything.”

The last thing Weaver needs is to have someone steal the goods before he can put them to good use.

“I read in the paper where the tennis player, Pete Sampras, had his in a storage room and it got robbed (last December) and he lost all of it,” Weaver said. “I don’t see what good it is in a storage room or in a safe-deposit box.

“I had them all over the walls, really showing the pieces off, but you get the workmen coming in, and they look at it and you don’t know who they’re going to tell. We’ve got an alarm system, but somebody could come in there and get it all and then nobody would have anything.”

Weaver won 1,480 games, four AL pennants and a World Series over 17 seasons with the Orioles. Along the way, he had five seasons with at least 100 wins, clashed with many an umpire in boisterous fashion and accumulated hundreds of mementos.